Comparison

BlockStep vs GymGrove

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

BlockStep

Features
Read full description

BlockStep turns walking into building. Every step you take lays one block. Reach your daily Goal and the day's structure is complete; fall short and you keep exactly what you built — the scaffolding stays where you stopped, honestly. A NEW STRUCTURE EVERY DAY Ninety-one authored pieces across thirteen chapters — a cottage, a lighthouse, a locomotive, a hot air balloon, a kraken. Everyone walks the same order from their own first day, so what you meet on day four is a decision somebody made, not an accident of the calendar. YOUR GOAL, YOUR RESOLUTION Set it anywhere from 500 to 30,000 steps. The same structure is built at whatever detail your Goal implies — a modest Goal makes a bolder, chunkier object; an ambitious one makes a finer, more detailed one. Nobody is building a worse version of anything. KEEP GOING A Streak counts the days you finished. Crown a structure by walking 150% of your Goal and you bank a Shield, which quietly saves a day you missed. Ill, or away? Mark the day — your Streak holds where it is, and never pretends you walked. EXTRA STEPS GO SOMEWHERE Walked past your Goal? Point the overflow at an unfinished day from your Collection and finish that one too. The record keeps both truths: what you walked that day, and that a later day completed it. WHERE YOU LEFT IT Every past day is in your Collection: scroll it, open one, and turn it in your hand. Twenty Badges mark what the walking has earned — firsts, streaks, hours, whole chapters — and none of them can be un-earned. ON YOUR WRIST AND YOUR HOME SCREEN The watch app counts your steps on its own. The widget shows today's structure as it goes up. Walk mode puts it on your Lock Screen while you are out. IT FOLLOWS YOU Your Collection travels between your own devices through your own iCloud, so a new phone starts where the old one stopped. There is no account to make and nothing to sign in to. FREE, AND THE KIT The first fourteen Steps of the Sequence are free — enough to see whether this is for you. After that the road begins again, and the Kit is a single $4.99 purchase that opens all ninety-one Builds and everything after them. No subscription, no ads, no second currency. Your walking counts either way: the Kit changes what gets built, never what gets recorded. PRIVACY BlockStep reads exactly one thing — your step count — and there is no server of ours for it to go to. No account, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking. Your Collection is mirrored into your own private iCloud database, which is yours: it lives in your Apple account and we have no key to it. A device that is not signed in to iCloud simply keeps its Collection locally.

About

GymGrove

Log your strength training workouts with detailed tracking of sets, reps, and weight. Visualize your progress with heatmaps and charts, and manage your routines efficiently. Train from your wrist with Apple Watch integration.

Highlights
  • Build and run custom workout routines
  • Track working sets with notes and rep ranges
  • Rest timer with Lock Screen and Dynamic Island support
  • Progress visualization with heatmaps and charts
  • Apple Watch integration for wrist-based tracking
  • Set rating and progression suggestions
Features
Read full description

GymGrove helps you log your strength training and know what to do next. Build your own routines, record your sets, and keep your workout history close at hand on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. LOG YOUR WORKOUTS - Build your own routines from hundreds of exercises, or add custom exercises. - Record weights, reps, warm-ups, and how each set felt. - Keep your rest timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. - Look back through completed workouts and share a workout card when you finish. TRAIN FROM YOUR WRIST Start a workout on your iPhone and follow it on Apple Watch. Log sets, adjust rest, switch exercises, and finish from your wrist. With your permission, GymGrove records workouts, heart rate, and active energy in Apple Health. SEE WHAT YOU TRAINED View a body heat map of your recent training and explore the exercises that contributed to each muscle. Follow body weight and body composition measurements available in Apple Health. TRAIN WITH FRIENDS Social is optional and for adults 18 and older. Sign in with Apple, create a profile, and add friends by username or profile link. Compare training totals, muscle distribution, and shared exercises side by side. You choose what friends can see, and you can block or report anyone. There is no public feed. Workout logging never requires an account. GO FURTHER WITH GYMGROVE PRO - Personalized training plans: get a plan for your goals, schedule, and equipment. Save it, customize it, and build a new one when your training changes. - Smart suggestions: get weight and rep suggestions based on your logged sets and effort. You stay in control of every set. - Full Progress dashboard: explore exercise charts, training trends, muscle workload, period comparisons, and suggestions for your next session. - Friend comparisons: see your full progress next to a friend's, for the things you both share. WHAT'S FREE, AND WHAT REQUIRES PRO? Manual routines, workout logging, and your completed workout history remain free. A Social profile, friends, and giving a free month are free too. Saving and using generated training plans, smart weight and rep suggestions, the full Progress dashboard, and full friend comparisons require GymGrove Pro. Choose a monthly or annual subscription. Prices and any available free trial are shown in the app before you purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled in your Apple Account settings. Earlier lifetime purchases remain valid and can be restored. Get into a routine. Log the work. Keep moving forward. GymGrove is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice. Privacy Policy: https://gymgrove-61f528.gitlab.io/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Social Terms: https://gymgrove-61f528.gitlab.io/social-terms.html

Screenshots

BlockStep4 screens
GymGrove4 screens

Verdict

The call

BlockStep and GymGrove are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. BlockStep sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and GymGrove sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlockStep ships an update every 4 days, GymGrove every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
BlockStep versus GymGrove: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlockStepGymGrove
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.1
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB257 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCaffeinated Code d.o.o.Aleksey Lichtman

In-app purchases

1 purchases

BlockStep

One-time1
  • The Kit$4.99
3 purchases

GymGrove

Subscriptions2
  • GymGrove Pro Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • GymGrove Pro Annual14 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • GymGrove Pro Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is BlockStep free?
BlockStep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GymGrove free?
GymGrove is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BlockStep or GymGrove have ads?
Neither BlockStep nor GymGrove shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlockStep or GymGrove?
BlockStep ships an update every 4 days, and GymGrove every 3 days. Most recently, BlockStep was updated on November 10, 2026 and GymGrove on November 6, 2026.

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